Join Us for Art of the Burqa on March 6th in New York City!

New York, NY – On Sunday, March 6th, women artists and writers join together to discuss art that engages the burqa, the head-to-toe veil worn by some Muslim women, by choice or by force. Co-hosted by OF NOTE Magazine, Pen and Brush, and the Afghan Women’s Writing Project (AWWP), this event begins at 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public. 29 East 22nd Street New York, NY 10010. Reservations may be made via Eventbrite.

The event will feature presentations of short films, artwork, poetry readings, and flash conversations between the artists and writers who collaborated on The Burqa Issue of OF NOTE Magazine. In this issue, women speak for themselves. Participants bring to bear roots from Afghanistan, Algeria, Canada, Guyana, India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the US to elevate the voices of the women who wear the burqa.

“This is art that questions and provokes. It is art that is first and foremost deeply personal, before it is political,” says OF NOTE founder and editorial director Grace Aneiza Ali. “Each of these women know intimately, and at times painfully, how the world encounters women donned in burqas because they have worn them or borne witness to stories of the women who have.”

“Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the garment and forget the woman underneath,” says AWWP Communications Director Stacy Parker Le Melle. “These writings and artworks help us deepen our understanding of their experiences. Their creativity rejects the simplicities often found in political speech. In this American climate of intensifying xenophobia and Islamophobia, we think this is a powerful time to have this meeting of the minds.”

“This event will allow the messages of these courageous, talented, and women artists and writers to take life in a new and tangible way that we hope will give greater understanding to their work and to the complex issues women face,” says Pen and Brush Associate Executive Director Dawn Delikat.